Pushing through my colour boundaries....

 I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I have my favourite colours that I'm always drawn to when I make, buy or choose something. For anyone who knows me it is fairly obvious that I like all things blue and green, actually I lean towards the blues more but green is often in there too. So when it comes to making things to sell in my Etsy shop I have to really push myself out of my blue and green comfort zone and remind myself that not everyone is a fan of all things blue and green. 

 So this past week I intentionally chose fabrics out of my colour safe zone to make up these nice, bright and happy writing folders/compendiums. Yes I know there is a green one in there :-) but not much blue at all.

 The green one is actually green and brown with a little splash of red and okay just a minor hint of pale blue.

 And here's the inside with lots of pockets for pads and sketch books and pens with not a hint of blue :-)

 Each one has a handmade button like this one on the yellow writing folder/compendium.

 Each compendium is made up of scraps of coordinating fabrics that I then embellish with a variety of machine embroidery stitches in a variegated colour thread.

 For me the fun part of making these compendiums is adding the little details like the different stitches, the pretty ribbon down the centre of the inside and the handmade buttons. All these things do take time but I think that is the beauty of buying handmade items on places like Etsy and Felt. Each item is made with love, care and attention for those all important details that make it unique.

Each of these compendiums can be found here for purchase on my Etsy shop. And if there is a colour I have not made I am happy to make a custom item just for you ;-)

Custom made......

This is the custom ordered writing/journalling compendium that I've been working on most of the week in between the usual housework, washing, baking, dinner making and keeping my girls happy stuff that happens everyday :-) I have to say I'm really loving how this folder came out and it was a joy to work with these sunny happy fabrics. 

 Inside is pretty much the same as the others except just one pocket for business cards and of course it's 3 big pockets hold the bigger A4 size writing pads/journals.

The back showing some of the embroidery stitches I used to embellish the outside with.

And finished with a handmade button and loop enclosure. I'm going to make an effort to break out of my colour comfort zone of greens and blues and work with this happy colour combo more often I think. 

New additions.....

 Now that the school holidays are over I've been keeping busy designing and sewing new items for my shop. I added these 3 writing/journalling compendiums last week made with some more of those vibrant Bali batiks that I am constantly drawn to work with.

The covers of each one are made up of small pieces sewn together 'improv' style then embellished with various machine embroidery stitches which all takes a bit of time but is one of my favourite steps of making these compendiums up.

Yesterday I received a custom order for one of these compendiums in the colour combo of red/orange/yellow and in an A4 size. I rummaged through my stash and came to the sad conclusion that I did not have enough of those colours in my stash so of course a shopping trip was called for. It just so happens that there is a shop about an hours drive away that stock a wonderful range of true Balinese batiks and at reasonable prices. The shop is called "Wrights fabrics" in Morrinsville and has been around for years and the owners are really friendly and helpful. One of the fabrics that I had chosen had a cut in the middle of it so they gave me extra to compensate along with a further extra piece that had been cut previously but tucked into the roll. Once paid for my fabrics were not stuffed into the usual generic plastic bag but carefully wrapped in good old fashioned brown paper. Love that :-) And now my stash of batiks is much more colour balanced :-)

The lost art of the hand written letter..........

No I'm not going to write a post on how we rarely hand write letters any more but it is something that we see less and less of which I think is a little sad since how special do we feel when we receive even just a handwritten note. Anyway with those thoughts in mind I designed this writing/journalling folder or "compendium" I think is the correct word for it. I used up some scraps of batiks leftover from the making of my 'Boho bag'. As you can see it has 2 pockets on the front for pens and closes with a fabric loop and handmade button (a miniature version of the button on the bag). Inside it has 4 large pockets for storing paper, journals and pens, 2 single pen pockets and 2 pockets for cards. Once again I used some African 'shwe shwe' fabrics for the inside. I really like the way these prints coordinate with the blue batiks plus the fact that they've been in my stash for a while now and it feels good to finally find the perfect items to use them in.

Just like the 'Boho bag' it is embellished on the outside with a variety of machine embroidery stitches....

Admittedly I don't write many letters myself but I do like to have paper handy when inspiration strikes and I also have recently started a journal for writing down inspirational quotes etc... so I think I need to make one of these compendiums for myself. This one is now for sale here in my Etsy shop and also here in my Felt shop.

A surprise parcel !!!!

About 2 years ago or maybe a bit less I came across a blog called "Xue's Originals". I think actually Xue found me as she left a comment on my blog on a giveaway post and then I checked out her blog as you do. I'm pretty sure that's how our friendship started and we have been corresponding ever since. Xue, also known as 'Lily' lived in Tokyo at the time with her husband and 2 children but has since moved to Dubai. We have very much in common, and I think she is a very talented but modest artist. Last Friday I received the most amazing surprise package from her filled with all sorts of crafty goodness.

 

The package was so full it had actually ripped slightly at the top but luckily everything remained intact. It was like a mini Christmas and I was quite overwhelmed with her generosity and could just imagine the fun she and her daughter had had, putting this all together just for us. To my girls delight they included stickers, window decals, pencils and fans to paint, especially for them. I left it all on our dining table and for the rest of the day kept admiring everything and smiling to myself when I thought of everything I had received.  

 

This is the front of the package, beautifully decorated with her own handmade stamps along with stickers and tape.

Included in the package was this beautiful bag designed and made especially for me with a selection of pretty Japanese fabrics, machine embroidered with a variety of stitches and embellished with tags, buttons and charms. If you look at the charms above the tag can you see that it actually says "I love Sewing"!

The other side of the bag with more pretty fabrics and stitches, pretty little buttons and a tag that says "Sewing is my cuddly time".

 

I just love this little handmade owl, it is only about 2 inches high and now keeps me company in my 'sewing attic' although I might have to share it with Caitlin ;-) Here it is sitting on a bag full of the prettiest handmade covered buttons. They will be put aside to adorn something pretty or I might be talked into making a hair tie or two for the girls.

And last but not least is some of the fabrics she included. All are from her stash which she bought with her from Tokyo to Dubai. I love them all but am very grateful that she generously shared some of her precious Echino prints with me. (The one with the birds :-)) Xue's most recent post is all about her sewing studio in her home in Dubai where she shares photos of her amazing stash of fabrics and sewing machine prettily decorated with cherry blossoms decals.  Xue I can't thank you enough!

My String Quilt quilted and bound!

My first finished quilt of 2012, although the quilt top has been in my WIP pile since March 2010! This is also the last project I have to finish off  which is a great way to start off this year don't you think! I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to quilting this quilt. I guess because it is for us it was not urgent and I had other projects that actually had deadlines to complete by. Also I think because I love this quilt so much I was a little bit intimidated by how to quilt it without ruining the design. The free-motion quilting is far from perfect in some of the squares where I first started off but I quickly got better and figured out the best way of dealing with the bulk of the quilt as I was sewing. 

I think I love the back as much as the front which is just made up of fabrics from  my stash that needed to be used up. I used a variegated thread in the bobbin for the quilting which mixes in with all those colours so it neither stands out too much or gets lost either.

Here's a close-up shot of the decorative machine stitch I used. I really like the effect that this rainbow thread makes as you sew. If you're interested the decorative threads I have used they are mostly all by the Guutermann brand which are readily available in most places I think.

And here's one of my favourite shots of it taken on our back steps leading to our garden. Thankfully yesterday it stopped raining so I could take it outside for its photo-shoot. You can see more photos here on my flickr page. This is a true scrap quilt as it started off with a scrap swap with some ladies in the Old Red Barn flickr group. I added scraps from my own stash, used up scraps for the back and also ends of binding leftover from previous quilts and projects. It certainly feels good to have made a quilt entirely from scraps and of course it makes an interesting quilt to make and look at. I can pick out fabrics that were leftover from dresses I made my girls when they were younger and fabrics that are from a different era that were given to me from an Auntie, and even a couple of fabrics from the very first quilt I made. I have to say my stash is nicely getting depleted of fabrics I have had for a little too long.

Now I'm off to start a brand new project :-)

The humble square

Even though I have 3 projects on the go at the moment last week I pulled out some fabrics for yet another project. With my youngest daughters 12th birthday fast approaching I realised I'd better get going on the things I wanted to make her. Why I leave things till the last minute I do not know but all of a sudden I realise I have a mere 3 days left to get the ideas out of my head and made. I'm sure I'm not the only busy mother who does this. Anyway I had decided to make her a memo board for her new study/play area that used to be her sisters bedroom. I knew what colours she liked from her helping me out with the layout of the crochet rug, which were aqua, purple and red and had also decided to make her board the same way I made my memo board here. I really love how just a simple patchwork pattern of squares really shows off the fabrics I chose. I think sometimes in an effort to be original or different we can over complicate things. These squares reminded me that a simple shape is all that is needed to let those favourite fabrics shine. 

 I did however go to town on the machine embroidery which meant getting to play with all the decorative stitches on my new Janome. I started off just using ordinary thread then switched to some nice shiny specialised machine embroidery thread which really made those stitches stand out.

As you can see I actually made 2 memo boards because one big one wouldn't fit in the space I had in mind. I chose purple buttons and a mauve ribbon for one board and aqua buttons and ribbon for the other. I even sewed these squares in front of her without her knowing what they were for. I guess I do so much sewing that she doesn't take too much notice until I finish something.

Here's a close-up of some of those pretty, decorative machine stitches I used. I think these 2 are my favourites. These boards are really easy to make but just take a little time especially sewing on all those buttons! (16 on each!!) And just to prove how last minute I am I was up until 1am Saturday night finishing these boards off and wrapping her presents for her birthday on Sunday.